A package, such as a package made of flexible material, is commonly used to store a food product during transportation, storage, and during consumption by a user when multiple servings or multiple food products are disposed in the package. A common type of prior package is mass-produced from a web of film material. The web is formed into a continuous tube by sealing the longitudinal edges of the web together to form a fin seal. This continuous tube can then be singulated into smaller packages by forming transverse seals and cutting transversely across the tube in the region of the transverse seals. The food product may be inserted into the tube after the formation of one of the transverse seals and prior to the formation of the opposite transverse seals for a given individual package. Alternatively, the web may be wrapped around the food product prior to the formation of the fin seal.
Such prior packages can initially store the food product within a sealed interior cavity prior to purchase by a consumer. The consumer can then break one of the transverse seals or remove a corner of the package to access the interior cavity and the food product. Neither of these solutions provides a convenient way for consumers to open the package. Further, uncontrolled opening of the package can result in the package being partially or completely unsuitable for reuse, a disadvantage when the package contains multiple servings or multiple food product intended to be consumed over time.
One issue that arises after the initial breaking is how to effectively reclose the package when the package contains multiple servings or multiple food product intended to be consumed over time. As mentioned above, uncontrolled opening of the package can render it unsuitable for reuse and thus also reclose. If a package is provided without a reclose feature, a common practice is to fold the edges of the package over to reduce the headspace above the food product and close the broken seal. A clip can then be applied over the folded material to hold the package in this closed state. This practice, however, often does not sufficiently close the package and if the consumer does not have a clip, the package can unfold and fully expose the food product.
One type of reclose feature provided in the past was to place a zipper strip along one edge of the package. While generally suitable for providing controlled opening and reclose of the package, the increased cost of the package due to the zipper strip can be undesirable for certain packaging applications.
One attempt at providing for controlled opening, described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,470,015, utilizes a U-shaped perforation defining a grip on a free edge of the fin seal. The grip is described as being used to initiate opening of the package. Disadvantageously, no provision is made in the package for controlled opening other than the grip. Thus, the package opens in an uncontrolled manner and suffers from the problems described above. Moreover, no provision is made in the package for reclose.
Another attempt at providing for controlled opening, described in EP1382543, utilizes a perforated line formed in the package that can be broken to form an opening. An adhesive label is applied over the perforated line on the exterior of the package in order to permit the opening to be reclosed by reattaching the label to the exterior portion of the package adjacent the opening. However, the use of the label disadvantageously can increase the cost of the package, as well as add additional material that must be added during manufacturing.
Another type of package includes a hang hole formed or punched in a top seal portion of the package for displaying the package on a peg. The hang hole can be formed using a heated tool, which can lead to the edges of the hole being fused or melted together. While this can increase hanging strength by reinforcing the edges of the hang hole, it can also disadvantageously increase the risk of uncontrolled tear propagation during opening. For example, when sides of the package are gripped and pulled generally apart, pressure can build along the edges of the hang hole. The large amount of force required to break the hang hole can result in an uncontrolled tear across the package. Similarly, the hang hole can be manipulated to start a tear across the package, but this tear can also become uncontrolled for the same reasons. Uncontrolled tears across the package can be unsatisfactory because they can spill the contents of the package and/or leave the package unable to be sufficiently reclosed.